BEREA, Ohio — Browns kicker Andre Szmyt’s game-winning kick on Sunday against the Packers didn’t just happen out of thin air. It took an even-keeled approach and a chance to hit the reset button in Baltimore.
In the Browns’ Week 2 game, he made his lone field goal attempt against the Ravens and two extra points, but he appreciated another opportunity to reset before they even took the field for that game.
Szmyt’s sister, Julia, lives in Baltimore and he was able to make it to her house for dinner.
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Browns kicker Andre Szmyt wins AFC Special Teams Player of the Week
“It was good to get out of the hotel, went to her house, saw my niece and nephew, got to hang out with them,” Szmyt said, “and they’re too young to really understand football, they’re just excited to see their uncle.”
Julia even cooked one of their mom’s favorite Russian dishes, Szmyt told cleveland.com after the game on Sunday.
That reset, on and off the field, helped lead Szmyt to last Sunday against the Packers, where he once again made all three of his kicks, including a 55-yard game winning field goal, the longest walk-off field goal in Browns history.
It netted him the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week this week.
“It’s kind of like a refreshing feeling‚” Szmyt said of that Saturday with his family. “It’s not like we’re talking about football all the time. The kids just want to see me for me. So it was kind of nice just to kind of step away from it mentally and just be like, hey, I’m just here hanging out with my niece, nephew and just enjoying time with the family.”
It has been an emotional few months for Szmyt, going back to 10 days before training camp when he lost his mom, Lala, due to an aneurysm.
He chose not to disclose this personal loss publicly throughout a training camp battle with incumbent kicker Dustin Hopkins and after he missed those kicks in Week 1.
“This is the time where I would want to say it,” Szmyt said after Sunday’s win. “I don’t want to make it like it’s an excuse that I’m dealing with all this stuff after a bad game, but more I want to dedicate the good games and the game-winners to her. Even though they feel sweet, it’d feel even sweeter if she was here. She would be head over heels, so excited for me.”
The big thing for Szmyt throughout the summer and now the season has been trying not to ride the ups and downs too much..
“It’s definitely a roller coaster. Kind of feel like the lows of Week 1 and now the highs of Week 3,” he said, “but trying to stay level.”
It goes back to advice he’s received from other kickers as he made his way to the NFL ranks.
“What’s the key to success?” he said, “Just kind of having a chill, go-with-the-flow attitude. Trying to adopt that as best I can.”
This award for Szmyt was more a culmination of the last two weeks.
“The most exciting part was enjoying the win and celebrating with the guys on Sunday,” Szmyt said. “This (award) is just a product of the work we put in.”
That work was helped, possibly, by those Week 1 missed kicks. It is, after all, a learning experience still for the first year kicker out of Syracuse who has spent time on practice squads and in the UFL before winning the Browns job.
Week 1 was the first regular season NFL game he kicked in.
“Not that I took anything for granted, but you think you’re in a groove and everything’s good and it’s like, oh, I still have to keep my tempo, keep my composure and stuff,” Szmyt said. “And I think that was a good wakeup call and hopefully just keep the success rolling.”
The Browns’ willingness to show patience in the soon-to-be 27-year-old — his birthday is Friday — paid off for them on Sunday in their upset win over the Packers. So did Szmyt’s ability to hit the reset button after a tough first week.
And, just like you’d expect for a guy who’s trying to go with the flow, he’s not thinking about awards, he’s thinking about Detroit.
“I’m already on to this weekend,” Szmyt said, “and getting good work in at practice and setting me up well for the weekend.”